(upbeat music)
♪ Bob and Brad the two most famous ♪
♪ physical therapists on the internet. ♪
- Hi folks I'm Bob Schrupp physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck physical therapist.
- We are the most famous
physical therapists on the internet.
- In our opinion of course Bob.
- In our humble opinions.
Today we're gonna talk about seven
necessary stretches for the inflexible,
it's a complete beginner's flexibility routine
by Bob and Brad.
- There ya go.
- I spit that out.
- Right.
Even though I kinda choreographed most of it
Bob's gonna help me.
- Yup.
Well this is your baby Brad.
- Okay, but wait Bob, we have something to say.
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- Bob and Brad, official Bob and Brad
and are we still on the contest?
Yes we are on the contest
for, you're gonna go to Facebook
and it's pinned to the top of the page,
we're giving away a mattress again,
sleepovation mattress, one of our favorite mattresses
well I would say it is our favorite mattress.
- Right, and they're wonderful, they're high end mattresses
you know over a thousand dollars you know
it competes with any of them.
- Yeah you're kinda high end maintenance
so it kinda fits with you because you are
- Why Bob, why?
Let's get on with the show.
- Alright, alright so what are we doing Brad?
We're doing some of the most common tight muscle groups?
- Right, so there are people that they just say
you know, at the clinic, you've had patients I'm sure
I'm just very tight I'm just
- Yeah, I'm naturally tight.
- That's just the way it is.
And if you are that's very passable
but these are the seven, what we feel
are the most common tight muscles.
And there's, you know I think any therapist would say
- [Together] Yeah, like that right.
- So we're gonna go through the seven most common
tight muscle groups, show you how you can stretch 'em
and if you do this stretch program,
even five to six days a week
you're going to increase your flexibility.
- Yeah, you'll work your way, it takes a while sometimes
it might even be weeks or months.
- Right.
- But stick with it, it's surprising
how it just keeps improving.
- Right.
You know, I noticed when I was in Karate I was very tight
and it took about two to four weeks
and all of a sudden it was like wow, you know,
kicks, you wanna get your kicks up.
- Sure.
- I was kicking waist level,
and I wanted to be like those other people
who were kicking up to head level without a problem
and I did get there, it took me, like I said
I noticed after the first month I noticed a big change
and then I kept going higher and higher over the month.
- Now at our age now, it might take a little longer yet!
- Yeah, that we don't mention about.
- Alright so we're gonna start off Brad.
- Number one thing when you start stretching
it's gonna make a tremendous difference
is you need to relax, and you need to breathe properly.
- Sure.
- So when you do the stretch, as you breathe and exhale
let's say I'm stretching my hamstring
as I lean forward to get the stretch,
I exhale, I relax, and while I'm exhaling
is when you wanna add the stretch.
When you breathe in, not so much
but when you exhale,
and just think of that muscle being relaxed.
I visualize this, I had a karate teacher told me this once
visualize your muscles like butter on a picnic table
on a hot sunny day.
- [Together] Just melting.
- There you go.
- See and I think, personally I think that stretching time
is a great reflective time, almost meditative time.
- Yup.
- And I think it's a great day, a great way to start the day
that's how I start the day.
- Sure.
- You know, it serves purposes beyond loosening the muscles
- Sure.
- It can relax the mind too.
- It's, you know yoga, there's a lotta different
practices out there that all work together.
So shall we get started or shall we keep babbling?
- Yeah why don't we get started.
(laughs)
- Okay so we're gonna start with the heel cord.
- Yup.
- That muscle group is always tight in almost everyone.
- This is one where you see people
it looks like they're pushing over a wall
or something like that, so I'm just off the end of a
you can go to the end of a bed or a countertop.
- Right there.
- Keep that heel down.
- Yup.
- And you want the toe straight, pointing forward.
- Right here yep.
- You don't wanna go in our out like this,
straight forward.
- This is not being stretched here
it's only one foot, the one in the back
cos that's your stretch.
- You can do it with the leg straight, the knee straight,
and you can also do it with the knee bent,
you may even wanna do both.
- If you have an incline board like I have here
I think these are the ultimate for stretching the heel cord
cos it's easiest and most effective I think
so I can do it with my leg straight or I can bend it
and that gets to both muscle groups,
as far as time with all of these, you can either do
pressure on and hold for a coupla seconds
and pressure off, and repeat that five to ten times
or if you wanna do a sustained stretch,
15, up to 30 seconds at once,
while you're relaxing and breathing.
- I'll often do both, I'll mix it up a little bit so
- Everyone gets there, you'll learn after a little while
what works best for you.
- This is a nice hamstring stretch
if you're having back pain
because your back is being supported while you're doing it.
- Sure.
- And you can do it with a belt or a sheet,
I'm using a stretchout strap,
this is a different type of stretchout strap
it's one of the ones that we endorse.
But you can slip it over the foot like this
they come with lots of loops
and what's nice about it you can slip your hands
through one of the loops
and it's easy to then apply the pressure
to get the hamstring stretch
and just bring it up and there you go.
- So the knee you wanna get straight
if you bend the knee,
it's not near as aggressive as you straighten the knee
you'll feel it.
- Yeah you can start of by going like this
and then working your way up like that
but yeah you can give it a good long stretch
you can even do a little push down and relax.
- Pressure and relax yeah that's kind of an advanced one.
- That's an advance move yup.
- And like Bob right there he's got his head down
normally you'd lay your head down and just relax.
- Right I'm relaxed, I got my Mike Hamswear going.
- Oh yeah sure.
So you can do it standing as well, on a stairway
or a stool like I have here
again make sure the knee is straight
and your back is straight
and just lean forward, don't do this
it's not gonna work well.
- Yeah again, I'll use another booya stick to show ya
I mean he's keeping everything nice and straight here
while he's doing the stretch.
- And I'm relaxing and breathing
and letting that muscle stretch.
Okay hip flexors, that's a very common muscle group.
- Yeah that's a muscle tightens up on a lotta people
because we all are in a sitting society now aren't we.
- Yep.
- Now this is one way, you wanna make sure
you aren't gonna fall off the bed
so I often bring the shoulders a little bit farther over,
bring this leg off, I'm stretching the hip flexor right here
now you wanna lock the pelvis
by bringing the leg up like this
and now you can stretch even a little bit more
by bending the knee.
- Oooh!
- Now what you'll find on some people
are really tight when you bend the knee
the leg actually comes up, that's how tight it is.
- Yeah when you bend the knee it gets another muscle
it gets the rectus femoris but then you're complete.
Yeah so this is a nice way to stretch,
you can do this before you get outta bed.
- Yeah this is, and again I'd be relaxed down like this
just letting her stretch away, wanna do both sides.
- Another option is to do it like this.
You know on a carpeted floor, I'm using a pillow here.
So it protects my knee
and then I'm gonna be up with good posture
gonna lean forward,
and right here is the motion right?
Right there gives the stretch.
This is not gonna stretch the hip flexor,
the iliopsoas as well as this,
I happen to be using my booya stick for balance
you can grab a piece of furniture, you know
a cupboard whatever you want
and stretch and with all these stretch both legs
or both arms, we're starting from the ankle
and working up to the neck by the way
so we're half way there, wow!
- Alright whadda we got next?
Now next, the chest, the chest muscles
tend to get very tight again in the society that we are,
where we're working on keyboards and stuff like that
and everything pulls you over
and internally rotates the shoulders
so a good one to do is just
even a touchdown stretch like this
this is one you can do throughout the day
just yeah pretend you're yawning and
give it a good stretch and that's
stretching out the pectoralis major and minor there
and you don't have to worry about that.
- If you wanna get a little bit more aggressive that that
you can go into a doorway or to the corner of a wall
and I'm gonna go like this and you can
depending where you put the level of your arms
it changes the stretch, higher is more aggressive
or here is just fine and oh!
Boy this feels good, my goodness!
I really enjoyed that stretch Bob
and I feel, I'm feeling more a good posture.
- Yeah that's right.
Nobody puts Brad in the corner by the way.
You don't remember that line do you.
- No.
- Dirty Dancing, nobody puts Baby in the corner
I wonder why they ever said that by the way.
Okay now we're gonna do some upper traps
- Yeah this is a common muscle
yeah if you're in a tense situation or whatever
this muscle group the upper trap
and there's a levator scapula muscle there that gets tight
so a really basic one that's gonna help that is
- Yeah just kinda loosening it up a little bit.
(sighs)
- Shoulder.
I tell people think there's a piece of chalk
under your shoulder and you gotta chalkboard
and you're gonna make big circles
especially going backwards.
- This again is one of those
that you can do throughout the day
and you don't have to do it just because you know
a certain time, you can actually be working at your computer
or working at your desk and go ahead do some of those.
- This is an exception you don't hold this one
but you just work with motion on this one
and both directions is a good idea
and if you wanna get that upper trap
and that levator scapula I was talking about
bring your head over and kind of forward look down
if you had a pocket right here you could look down to there
and very gently with your fingertips
- Yup, just fingertips.
- Add a little overstress.
Don't grab your head and start yanking on it pulling it
cos you know some guys especially they go well
if a little's good, a lot's better, that's not true at all.
Gentle stretch, relax and breathing, next one Bob!
- Next one is, again, in society, I keep bringing that up
but we're working at computers and stuff like that
and we start drifting into that head forward posture
you definitely wanna stretch back like this
this is a stretch I recommend that everybody do.
- Oh yep.
- And you can do this in a seated position
but I'm gonna first show you how you can do it laying down.
You actually, it's nice you can take
a rolled towel like this Brad
- Yup.
- And you put it underneath the back of your head
and then you can do chin tucks like this.
Now I'm trying not to chin you know
bend my neck down like this or back like this
I'm starting to just go back.
- What I tell people in the clinic my patients I say
I'll put my hand right in here and I'll say
can you touch my fingers with the back of your neck
and that usually
- Gives em a good cue?
- Yep a good cue for proper mechanics.
You can do this one seated right at your desk
or you know wherever you're seated
even driving I do this one driving.
- Yeah I do this one driving all the time.
- And you just do it like this
and on this you know I like to
this one you're probably not gonna hold 30 seconds
on off, five to ten reps, even three reps
if you do it throughout the day
it's gonna be helpful.
- This is a good one for those people
who are getting those headaches
we call those neck headaches.
I've had some patients that that's all I've had em do
is these chin tucks and it took em away.
- Sure.
- You know it didn't prevent em once they started
but it prevented them from happening
you know they, so.
- And the last one is these muscles here
on the hands and the wrists
you wanna stretch out the fingers
we can do it like this,
don't go up on the fingertips,
that puts too much stress on the joints,
grab right here at the base of the fingers
where the fingers connect to the palm
there you can do it with the elbow straight
you can bend the elbow,
this is a little more aggressive
and then I do it like this when I'm on a countertop
you can go like this, you can go like this
and this way is even more aggressive
and again wow, that really,
and you can just feel those muscles in there.
- You may find one that's tighter than the other.
- One hand?
- Yeah one hand, and that's the one
you may wanna focus on.
- There ya go.
- It's really not uncommon at all
for one to be tighter than the other.
- Right.
- And that often leads to problems I mean
it often leads to pain.
- So this took us about 12 minutes but we are instructing
once you get through this you can get through this
in I would say five minutes.
- You're gonna snap snap snap.
- Yeah it's gonna go quickly.
And you don't have to do all seven,
do the ones that are tight, you know
you'll notice that oh my hamstrings are really tight but.
- Again, use this as a time for reflection.
- There ya go.
- To relax a bit too cos it gets you really focused
you can get double benefit out of it
and get a more productive day.
- There ya go.
- So alright, thanks everybody for watching.